Top Republican boosts pressure for U.S. tax rewrite

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican lawmaker on Thursday stepped up pressure to force action next year on a rewrite of the U.S. tax code, which both major political parties agree has become overly complicated and inefficient. The chairman of the tax-writing panel in the U.S. House of Representatives said rank-and-file Republicans favor forcing a vote this year on a plan to overhaul the tax system in 2013. ...

Debt limit hike needn't be a crisis: Geithner

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that raising the debt ceiling did not have to be a crisis as it was last year when partisan bickering over how to do so cost the United States its top credit rating. "It's not responsible to put at risk people's confidence in the credibility of the United States," Geithner said at the Greater Baltimore Committee group of regional businesses and nonprofit organizations. ...

U.S. economy still faces "very tough challenges": Geithner

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Europe's debt crisis, higher oil prices and the year-end budget cuts and tax increases still remain risks to the U.S. economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday. "We still live in a dangerous and uncertain world, with Europe confronting a severe and protracted crisis," Geithner said in remarks prepared for the Greater Baltimore Committee group of regional businesses and non-profit organizations. But although Geithner said the United States was facing "very tough challenges," he said they were manageable. ...

U.S. economy still faces "very tough challenges": Geithner

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Europe's debt crisis, higher oil prices and the year-end budget cuts and tax increases still remain risks to the U.S. economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday. "We still live in a dangerous and uncertain world, with Europe confronting a severe and protracted crisis," Geithner said in remarks prepared for the Greater Baltimore Committee group of regional businesses and non-profit organizations. But although Geithner said the United States was facing "very tough challenges," he said they were manageable. ...